Spears, Ronald

The early years

Ronald Spears was born on April 20, 1920 in Edinburgh , Scotland , UK , where he spent only four years. On December 25, 1924, he emigrated with his family to the United States , namely to Boston , Massachusetts . He went through military training in high school, which led him to the military commission as a second lieutenant . After the United States entered the war with Japan, Spears volunteered for a parachute assault and was sent to the Taccoa camp, platoon commander of the Dog Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Regiment , which later joined the 101st Airborne Division. At the end of 1943, together with the division, he was transferred to England to undergo preparations for the invasion of France.

Invasion of France

June 6, 1944, together with the company "D" landed on the territory of Normandy , where after landing and quickly found other fighters of the company. Gathering a small group, he assisted the group of Lieutenant Richard Winters during the assault on the Brekur estate , where he alone captured the fourth 105-mm howitzer. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Baston

After landing in Normandy, Spears with company “D” were sent to Holland to support company “E” (Easy) in the Dutch operation . After the failure of the operation in Holland, Spears participated in the siege of the city of Bastogne , where, during the storming of the city of Foy, he commanded the company "E" due to the poor leadership of Lieutenant Norman Dyke. During the assault, Spears not only led the company “E” to victory, but also gave the order to the company “I” (Item), which were located in the rear of the city, while directly ran across German positions and returned back the same way.

Winters later rated Spears as one of the best combat officers in the battalion. In his memoirs, he wrote that Spears worked hard to earn the reputation of a killer and often killed fighters for shock. Winters stated that Spears once claimed to have killed six German prisoners of war with a Thompson submachine gun , and that the battalion’s leadership should be aware of these allegations, but chose to ignore it because of the urgent need to retain skilled combat leaders. Winters concluded that in today's army, Spears would have been accused of atrocities by the Military Tribunal, but at that time officers like Spears were too valuable because they were not afraid to attack the enemy.

Despite the fact that Spears after the victory over Germany could go home, he chose to stay with company "E". But after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered before Spears could be handed over to the Pacific Theater.

Korean War

Spears returned to the United States and decided to remain in the army. Serving during the Korean War, he made one combat leap and commanded a rifle company until the end of the war. On March 23, 1951, he participated in Operation Tomahawk, during which he parachuted to Munsan (known as Munsan-ni during the war) with other soldiers in his unit (187th Regiment Combat Group). The initial mission of his battalion was to provide a fall zone, which was achieved by killing 40 or 50 enemy soldiers. ^[6]

Spandau Prison Service

After the war in Korea, Spears attended Russian language courses and was appointed liaison officer with the Red Army , which was located in Potsdam. In 1958 he became the head of the Spandau prison in Berlin, where prominent Nazis, such as Rudolf Hess , were serving their sentences. ^[7] Prisoner Albert Speer mentions Spears in his book Spandau: The Secret Diaries, as "a stubborn, annoying American commandant." This man was later identified as Spears.

Laos Civil War

In 1962, Spears was a member of the US mission in the Royal Laos Army ^[7] , where he served as a training officer in the Mobile Training Unit (MTT) for Operation White Star, which was then led by the Laos Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Laos).

Later years

His last assignment in the army was as an officer of plans at the Pentagon . He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1964.

On May 20, 1944, Spears married a girl whom he met while in Wiltshire , England . She was a member of the British Women's Supporting Territorial Service. In their marriage, a son was born, Robert, who grew up and became a lieutenant colonel in the British army. They later divorced in 1946.

• Ambrose, Stephen E. Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. - Simon & Schuster, 1992. - ISBN 978-0-7434-6411-6 .
• Winters, Richard D., with Cole C. Kingseed. Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. - St. Martin's Press, 2006 .-- ISBN 0-425-20813-3 .
• Guarnere, William J., and Edward J. Heffron, with Robyn Post. Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story. - Berkley Caliber, 2007 .-- ISBN 978-0-425-21970-6 .
• Brotherton, Marcus. A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us. - Berkley Caliber, 2010 .-- ISBN 9780425234204 .

• Biography on Heroes Forever
• Spears, Ronald on the Find a Grave website
• RonaldSpeirs.com